A Tale of Two Arctic Towns

May 6, 2008 — -- Tucked in the foothills of the Brooks Mountain Range in northern Alaska lies one of the nation's most remote communities — the Arctic Village.

Located inside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Arctic Village is accessible only by bush plane. Everything from snowmobiles and even the town's only truck had to be flown in. Still, a small group of American Indians have called the place home for years.

The 170 Gwich'in people who live in the village have sustained themselves almost entirely off the Caribou herds that pass through the area — living off the land like their ancestors before them.

"For thousands of years the G people have been relying on the caribou," said Joe Tetlichi, of the Porcupine Caribou Management board. "About 85 percent of our meat comes from caribou."

Deeply connected to the majestic nature that surrounds and sustains them, the residents of the Arctic Village are united against any development inside the refuge, which some have eyed for possible oil exploration.

"We don't need oil. We have enough oil. We have enough gas. We just are in the habit of using it too much," one elder resident said emphatically.

Arctic Village isn't the only picturesque distant town in the refuge. Atop tiny Barrow Island — 150 miles north of the village — sits the city of Kaktovic, where 300 Inupiat Eskimos inhabit the small town. Their families have lived there for generations upon generations.

They, like the Gwich'in, survive mostly off caribou and what they catch from the sea.

Kaktovic is a kind of time capsule, preserving ancient traditions and its lessons. Both towns straddle the ancient and the modern as they move forward. But unlike their southerly neighbor, Kaktovic residents are passionately divided about the issue of drilling.

"It's the last 5 percent of the coastal plain that's protected and I think we should keep it that way," said resident Robert Thompson.

But some others view drilling as an economic opportunity for their families and their town.